Using A TV Antenna in Meridian Manor

Meridian Manor has good over-the-air reception to receive many channels, without paying for cable.

The below article describes our experience using a TIVO-brand recorder, but you can use any brand of digital TV recorder. Consumer Reports magazine discusses several brands of recorders.

Continued from June-July 2016 Meridian Manor newsletter, Page 6 .

Paragraphs 1 thru 6 are copied from the NEWSLETTER article.

Skip down below to Section 7 to view ADDITIONAL information that would not fit in the newsletter. Skip down to Section 9 for details about how we got it on sale.

Why This Article:
This article is my opinion only, and I am NOT getting paid to write it. The purpose is to hopefully SAVE YOU MONEY. Recently we replaced our satellite TV service with a TiVo “Roamio OTA” (Over The Air) model DVR with “Product Lifetime Service” — the photo shows resident Rita Stine pointing to it. This reduced our television bill from $50/month to ZERO.
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How The TiVo Operates:Resident Rita Stine pointing at her new TiVo Roamio OTA unit, with no monthly charge — that replaced our $50/month satellite TV box

The TiVo is arguably the most-esteemed DVR (digital video recorder) on the market, produced since 1999. It operates similar to a Direct-TV ‘Genie’ or a Dish-TV ‘Hopper’ — where you program it in advance to record programs (one-time or every-episode) whenever they air — and then play them back at your convenience, and fast-forward through COMMERCIALS. –

Over-The-Air:he “OTA” means “Over The Air”, The OTA model receives the PROGRAMS “over-the-air” via a rooftop ANTENNA. (I.e. it won’t work on cable.)
<> FYI: You can also get cable-model TiVo’s, but this defeats the purpose of avoiding cable bills — and is unnecessary, since there are numerous “over-the-air” stations near Meridian Manor.
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Fig. 1 — TiVo Hookup Diagram . (Clicking on this image, should open it LARGER.)

Product Lifetime Service:This means you pay a one-time charge to purchase the unit, and then you need pay NO monthly subscription fee for the lifetime of your unit. This “TiVo Service” is necessary to receive the “Program Guide”, i.e. the SCHEDULE of programs. The TiVo will not operate without the guide.
** Internet Needed: You do need an internet connection, because the TiVo gets its “Program Guide” over the internet -– either wirelessly, or you can plug it into your router with an ethernet cable.
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The COST:The TiVo “Roamio OTA” is currently available with the “Product Lifetime Service” on Amazon or Best Buy for $399 for the 1 TB model. (We got ours for $300 on sale; use the below link for details.)
You can “do the MATH”; divide the $399 purchase price by your monthly satellite or cable TV bill to estimate “break even” time.
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Other TiVo Models:
FYI: The “latest and greatest” TIVO model is the new “Bolt” with “4K” capability, but I think the cost with “Product Lifetime Service” is about $600. The “Roamio” which we have, is the previous model before the Bolt, and is perfectly adequate for our needs.
<> Also, be aware that you can buy cheaper TiVo Roamio units as low as $49 with a $15 MONTHLY service plan — but these will cost more in the long run.

7. Additional Info: (that would not fit in the newsletter article)

SkipMode: TiVo is now advertising it’s new “SkipMode” feature. They claim it allows you to automatically skip over COMMERCIALS on some major programs, with a single button push.

Netflix Capable: FYI: The TiVo is also capable of wirelessly streaming optional paid movie services such as Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu over the internet — just like a laptop, Roku, or Apple TV does.

Information Flow: Let’s recap the TiVo’s “information flow”, since the concept is a bit unusual — see above Fig 1.

1. The actual PROGRAM is received over-the-air via an antenna .

2. The “Program GUIDE” is received over the internet.

If you use it for Netflix or similar optional paid services, all that information also comes over the internet.

8. Useful Websites:

Youtube:

You can search Youtube.com for the phrases similar to “TiVo Roamio OTA” to find many videos discussing this device.

Google: For more opinions, you can also do a Google search for phrases similar to “Compare TiVo to Channel Master” or to “Compare TiVo to Apple TV” to read owners’ comments. We did this before purchasing our unit.

Other Brands: There are a few other brands of these DVRs, but It appears most users are opining that TiVo is still the most refined of these type of devices.